Dispensing apparatus



April 1965 A. F. GLAUBKE ETAL 3,176,875

DISPENSING APPARATUS s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1965 \NVENTORS GLAUBKE A F H I? KNiGHT LANE SON T T NEY A. F. GLAUBKE ETAL 3,176,875

April 6, 1965 DISPENSING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiI ed Aug. 28, 1965 nu Rik P 1965 A. F. GLAUBKE ETAL 3,176,875

DISPENSING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 28, 1963 United States Patent 3,176,875 DISPENSW'G APPARATUS Allen F. Glauhke, Indianapolis, Francis E. Knight, Greenwood, until-Homer P. Lane and Robert L. Neison, ludianapolis, Ind, assignors to Western Electric Company Incorporated, New Jerk, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 28, 1963, er. No. 305,157 8 (iiaims. (ill. 221-238) This invention relates to dispensing apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for extracting a bundle of sheets from a stack of sheets Whose thick-ness varies within tolerance limits, the bundle containing an indeterminate number of sheets whose combined thickness approximates a prescribed value. It is an object of the invention to provide improved apparatus of such character.

In the dispensing of bundles of laminations for various magnetic devices it has been found that with as few as ten laminations of nominal thickness being required, the variation of sheet thickness within tolerance limits is ofsuflicient magnitude that either nine or eleven laminations may be desired in order to approach as closely as possible the desired bundle thickness. Accordingly, it is desirable that the bundle dispenser or extractor be of the type empolying a plunger and an escapement opening since this type of device extracts a bundle of given thickness rather than a bundle containing any specified number of laminations.

in a dispenser of this type there are various possibilities which cause jamming. If the eliective thickness of the dispenser plunger is less than the width of the escapernent opening onlyby the nominal lamination thickness, a thicker lamination when held at a certain height may be engaged by the plunger but unable to pass through the opening, with consequent jamming. If the effective thickness of the plunger is less than the Width of the escapement opening by an amount equal to the maximum thickness of lamination, such that the above-described cause of jamming is eliminated, a thin lamination which is supported at a certain height may fail to be engaged by the plunger while still being free to pass through the opening. Under these circumstances that lamination may be partially extracted such that jamming occurs. Also, a thick lamination having only slight contact with the plunger may start through the opening and then, because the bundle is slightly tapered in its thickness and binds in the opening, the top lamination may slip out of engagement with the plunger and be only partially extracted. Again, jamming of the dispenser occurs.

Lamination dispensing apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention assures that no lamination will be positively advanced by the plunger which is not free to pass through the escapement opening and, at the same time, assures that any lamination which is free to pass through the escapement opening will be fully extracted.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a positively driven main plunger is given an effective thickness of such value that it cannot engage any lamination which is not free to pass through the opening. An auxiliary plunger is associated with the main plunger to extract any lamination which is supported at such a height that it is free to pass through the opening but does not engage the main plunger. The auxiliary plunger is resiliently driven such that if it engages a lamination which is not free to pass through theopening it will yield during the bundle extracting stroke such that no jamming occurs. Alternatively, aslide may be associated with the shoulder which defines the escapement opening, the slide resiliently restraining any lamination not engaged by the plunger but ilihfifi Patented Apr. 6, l95

yielding to permit extraction of any lamination engaged by the plunger.

Other features of the preferred embodiment of the invention further serve to minimize or eliminate the possibility of jamming. One of the walls which defines the eseapemnet opening is preferably resiliently supported such that a bundle of slightly tapered thickness may cause this wall to yield rather than bind within the opening.

The possibility of a bundle binding in the opening is further minimized by providing for only partial initial extraction of a bundle from the stack, following which the bundle may be completely extracted by a separate plunger which moves laterally of the first plunger and which positively engages each lamination of the partially extracted bundle.

Still further, the shoulder which defines the critical side of the escapement opening is arranged to "deviate by a small angle from parallelism with the nominal plane of the laminations whereby only a small portion of the shoulder serves to define the maximum thickness of the bundle.

Accordingly, it is another object of the invention to provide improved dispensing apparatus for extracting a bundle of sheets from a stack of sheets whose thickness varies Within tolerance limits, the bundle containing an indeterminate number of sheets whose combined thickness approximates a prescribed value, wherein all sheets which are to be extracted in any one operation are firmly engaged by a plunger and extracted from the stack, and all sheets which are to remain in the stack are firmly engaged by retainin g means and retained in the stack.

A further object of the invention is to provide im proved dispensing apparatus of the character set forth above wherein jamming of the apparatus by a bundle of tapered thickness is minimized' This invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be imderstood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of apparatus illustrating the present invention, and particularly showing a bundle of laminations that are positioned to be advanced by a first plunger device into position to be moved by a second plunger device; I

FlGl is a partial, cross-sectional View taken along the line2r2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2a is a face view of a lamination to be handled by the apparatus of FIGS. land 2';

FIG. 3 is a partial, cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 wherein the bundle of laminations have been advanced by the first plunger device into position to be advanced by the second plunger device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view of plunger means incorporated in the apparatus of FIGS. '13;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, simplified representation of a portion of the apparatus of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 6 is a representation similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a partial side elevational view of a. second plunger device for advancing the bundle of laminationse The apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 'l-4 is well adapted to the handling of steel laminations It) for use in transformers, choke coils, relays, or other magnetic devices. The laminations 10 are stacked in a chute 11 and advance downward and to theright in PEG. 1 by virtue of the weight of the laminations. The bottom of the chute 11 is cut out to conform to the shape of the laminations '16 as depicted in FIG. 2a. The sides 11a and 11b of thechute l1 serve to guideand maintain the stack within the chute. With all obstructions removed, the stack is advanced by its own weight against a stop member 12. The laminations are held suspended between the lower terminus of one side of, the bundle advances.

3 the chute ll'and the stop member 12 because of the force exerted by the weight of the remainder of the stack.

-With the stack oflaminat-ions 1%} bearing against the. stop member 12 the lower or right-hand suspended por tion of the stack lies in the path of movementof a plunger 13 which is alternately advanced and retracted by a suitable power source, not shown.

The plunger 13, hereinafter referred to as the main plunger, has associated therewith an auxiliary plunger 14- which is confined within a slot 13 in the body of the main plunger. The spring 15 normally maintains the auxiliary plunger 14 in such a position that its forward end is flush with the forward end of the main plunger.

As the plungers l3 and lid advance they engage and advance downward and to the left those laminations which are free to pass by a shoulder 16 which acts as restraining means to hold back all laminations in the stack except those lowermost oneswhich are free to move past it. A specific explanation of the function of the auxiliary plunger 14 appears below. This shoulder 16 is formed by the edge of the bottom terminus of the chute 11.

A stock retaining plunger 17 is associated with the plungers l3 and 14 for holding back the stack of laminations by pressing resiliently thereagainst during advance and withdrawal of the plungers l3 and M. 'The stock retaining plunger is also slidable with respect to the main plunger and'is biased forward by a suitable spring 313, seen only in FIG. 4. As illustrated in PEG. 1, the forward end of the plunger 17 is normally positioned to ex tendbeyond the front faces of the plungers l3 and id; but, upon engagement with thelaminations, the front face of'the plunger 17 is retained while the plungers l3 and 14 continue to advance and move the laminations from the stack.

thickness of the thickest lamination Ed.

on a pin 29 extending from a bracket 3-9, and its-free or depending end 28:: is arranged to engage the lowermost lamination remaining the stack and drive the stack a short distance back up the chute 11 such that it does not bear against the partially extracted bundle. More particularly, when the cam surface 210 pivots the lever 28 in a counterclockwise direction, the free end 2311 of the lever skirns past the side of the plungers l3 and 14, the end of the stop member 12, and the upper end of the partially extracted bundle to engage one corner of the lowermostlamination remaining in the stack. it'should be. noted that at this time the plungers Hand 14 have beenwithdrawn, such that the stock retainin plunger 17 no longer bears against the lower laminations in the stack.

The operation of the dual plungers l3 and 14- may best be understood upon reference to FIG. 5. In that figure,

the stop memberlZ, the shoulder 16, and the plungers l3 and 14 are shown diagrammatically. The three phantom lines appearing in FIG. 5 represent the level of the shoulder to, the level of the top of the auxiliary plunger 14, and the level of the top of the main plunger 15, and the distances between adjacent lines are identified as A and B.

The desired functions of the'apparatus will be obtainc'd as long as each of the dimensions A and B is less than the thickness of the thinnest lamination in, and the sum of the dimensions A and B is greater than the The sum of the dimensions A and B must be greater. than the thickness of the thickest lamination in order to avoid the possibility of a laminationbeing engaged by both the main plunger ld and the shoulder 16.

,The dimension A must be less than the thickness of v the thinnest lamination in order that no lamination may It will be'noted upon reference to FIG. 3 that the 7' bundle of laminations advanced by the plungers l3 and 14 is removed only partially from the. stack. For complete extraction of the'bundle, a plunger 21 is provided which moves perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plungers 13 and 14 and parallel to the laminations. This plunger 21 isslidably mounted within gibs' Ella and 20b.

The plunger 21 (best seen in FIGS. 2'and 3) has a projecting portionZla having an upper surface against which the plungers l3 and 14 advance the bundle of laminations, and a shoulder 211) which engages and extracts the bundle. any suitable powersource, not shown, the shoulder 21b When the plunger 21 is advanced, by

engages each lamination in the bundle and drives the 'bundle past spring-biased guide mrnebers 22 and 23 (see FIG. 2) such that the bundle is completely extracted from the stack. The guide member23 is a spring-urged plunger having its front face acting as a guide surface along which The other spring bias member 22 is pivotally mounted and acts as a gate. When the bundle of laminations is advanced by the plunger 21, the front of :the bundle engages and pivots the guide member so that the engaged face swings into position to bear against the passing side of the advancing bundle. In effect, the guide members 21 and 22 cooperate to bear against opposite sides of the bundle to preclude any dis placement of the laminations during the advance by the plunger .21.

The bundle of laminations as it is extracted may be fed directly into a coil 25 or other part with which the bundle of laminations is to be assembled. Alternatively,

the bundle of laminations may be deposited on a conveyor or otherwise handled. V V w As the plunger 21 is advanced, a cam surface 21c thereon engages a cam follower 27 which isrotatably mounted on one end of a lever 28. The lever is pivotally mounted avoid engagement by either theshoulder 16 or the auxiliary plungerlld. The dimension B must be less than the thickness or" the thinnest lamination in order to avoid the possibility of one lamination engaging the shoulder 16 and the auxiliary plunger .14 such that the auxiliary plunger will not advance, while another lamination engages only the auxiliary plunger 14 and not the main plungerrlii. This condition cannot arise if the dimension B, that is, the, effective thickness of the auxiliary plunger, is less than the thickness of the thinnest lamina tion. With the apparatus meeting the parameters set forth above, any lamination which is freeto pass under the shoulder 16 will be extracted either by the main plunger 13 or the auxiliary plunger 14 or both, and any lamination which abuts the shoulder 16 will not be urged positively to the left. Since the effective thickness of the auxiliary plunger 14 is quite small it is preferably T-shaped as seen in FIG,.4 such that it may be rigid, the leg of the T riding in a groove in the main plunger 13. Alternatively, the auxiliary plunger may be member to the upper'surface of the main plunger. Similarly, if there were a smallspace between themain and auxiliary plungers the eifective thickness of the auxiliary plunger would still be the distance between the upper surfaces of thetwo plungers. The presence of a downward extending leg on theauxiliary plunger for increasing its rigidity does not increase its effective thickness since the leg can engage only such laminations as will be advanced by the main plunger anyway. 7

I If preferred, aslide may be mounted on the shoulder 16 which takes the place of and serves as the same function as the resilientlydriven plunger 14. 'In FIG. 6

the shoulder 16 and: the main plunger 13 are shown in cooperation with such a slide 34. With this arrangement any lamination which engages both the main plunger 13 and the slide 34 will cause the slide to yield such that the lamination may be extracted. Again, the dimensions A and B must each be less than the thickness of the thinnest lamination, and the sum of the dimen- Sions A and 13 must be greater than the thickness of the thickest lamination.

When the plungers 13 and 14 of the preferred embodimerit attempt to extract a bundle which is of tapered thickness, it will be apparent that the bundle might bind in the escapement opening, that is, between the shoulder 16 and the stop member 12. Referring again to FIG. 1 it will be seen that the stop member 12 is supported on a plurality of springs 12a. Mounting of the stop member 12 on the springs 12a permits the stop memher to yield such that continued extraction of a tapered bundle is permitted without the application of undue force. Preferably, the upward movement of the stop member 12 is limited in any suitable manner with the springs 12a precompressed. The stop member can then support the weight of the stack of laminations unyieldingly at a fixed level such that a prescribed distance is normally maintained between the stop member 12 and the shoulder 16, While it is preferred that the stop member 12 be thus re silently supported, it will be apparent that it may be the shoulder 16 which is yieldable, in a direction away from the stop member 12. The important factor is that the escapement opening as defined by the shoulder 15 and the stop member 12 be expandable to permit passage of a tapered bundle.

A further feature of the apparatus which helps in avoiding the binding of a tapered bundle between the shouldcr 15 and the stop member 12 is that the bundle is only partially extractedby the plungers 13 and 14. More particularly, the bundles are advanced from a position within the stack illustrated in FIG. 1 to the position illustrated in FIG. 3. In accordance with this feature of the invention, if the thickness of the bundle tapers in such a direction as to cause wedging of the bundle between the shoulder 16 and the stop member 12, the effect is minimized since the thickest portion of the bundle need not be forced between the shoulder and the stop member. In keeping with this feature of the invention, the plunger 21 is provided for eifecting full extraction of the displaced bundle.

Still further, the shoulder 16 deviates slightly from parallelism with the stop member 12 as best seen in FIG. 2. More particularly, an intermediate portion of the shoulder 16 as viewed in FIG. 2 determines the maximum bundle thickness, the right-hand and left-hand portions of the shoulder 16 sloping away from the stop member 12. This feature of the dispenser eliminates another cause of jamming. More specifically, the laminations frequently tend to fan out such that the top lamination of a prospective bundle slopes with respect to the nominal planes of the laminations in a direction lateral of the direction of movement of the plungers 13 and 14. In this case, if the shoulder 16 is parallel to the nominal planes of the laminations, one end of the top lamination may be free to pass through the escapement opening while the other end is not. The top lamination may then twist, and jam the machine. With the shoulder 16 deviating slightly from parallelism with the stop member 12, only a short portion of the top laminations is critical in the determination of its escapement.

Apparatus for driving the plungers 13 and 21 may be of simple and conventional form. In the preferred sequence of operation, the plunger 13 advances and retracts, after which the plunger 21 advances and retracts.

While various embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, many modifications will be apparent, and it is intended that the invention be interpreted as including all modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for extracting a bundle of sheets from a stack of substantially rigid sheets whose thickness varies within tolerance limits, such bundle containing an indeterminate number of sheets whose combined thickness approximates a prescribed value, said apparatus comprismg:

stop means defining a plane against which the stack of sheets may be advanced, restraining means spaced from the plane of said stop means by a distance determinative of a prescribed maximumvalue of bundle thickness and positioned to prevent extraction ofrnore than theprescribed maximum thickness of bundle from thestack, and

plunger means for advancing an indeterminate number of sheets along said stop means such that the leading ends of the sheets are advanced past said restraining means,

said plunger means including a positively driven main plunger arranged to engage and to advance at least all but one of the sheets which may be moved past said restraining means, said main plunger having an effective thickness less than the. maximum bundle thickness minus the thickness ofthe thickest sheet whereby no sheet may be engaged by both said main plunger and said restraining means,

said plunger means also including an auxiliary plunger arranged along the side of said main plunger which faces away from said stop means, and means for resiliently maintaining said auxiliary plunger on said main plunger with the sheet-engaging face thereof substantially flush with the sheet-engaging face of said main plunger,

said auxiliary plunger having an effective thickness less than the thickness of the thinnest sheet, and said main and auxiliary plungers' having a combined effective thickness less than the maximum bundle thickness and greater than the maximum bundle thickness minus the thickness of the thinnest sheet, whereby any sheet which may be moved past said restraining means is engaged and advanced by said plungers.

2. Apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said auxiliary plunger includes an elongated member protruding from that side of the effective portion thereof which faces said main plunger and extending therealong in the direction of advancement thereof, whereby said auxiliary plunger is stiffened without its effective thickness being increased,

3. Apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein resilient means are provided for supporting one of the two means which are determinative of maximum bundle thickness, namely said restraining means and said stop means, to permit yielding thereof and advancement of a bundle of tapered thickness through the opening defined by said restraining means and said stop means.

4. Apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein resilient means are provided for supporting said stop means, whereby said stop means may yield to permit advancement of a bundle of tapered thickness past said restraining means.

5. Apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said plunger means are arranged to advance a bundle only such a distance that the bundle is partially removed from the stack, and

second plunger means are provided, movable in a direction lateral to the direction of movement of the first specified plunger means, and engageable with a portion of each sheet of the partially removed bundle to extract such bundle fully from the stack.

6. Apparatus as specified in claim 1, wherein said restraining means deviates by a small angle from parallelism with the plane of said stop means, Whereby only a portion of said restraining means defines the maximum prescribed value of bundle thickness.

7. Apparatus for extracting abundle of sheets from a stack of Substantially rigid sheets whose thickness varies within tolerance limits, such bundle containing an inde terminate number of sheets whose combined thickness approximates a prescribed value, said apparatus comprising:

stop means defining a plane against which the stack I of sheets may be advanced,

plunger member for advancing an indeterminate number of sheets along said stop means, said plunger having an effective thickness determinative of a prescribed minimum bundle thickness, restraining member spaced from the plane of said stop means by a distance determinative of a pre scribed maximum value of bundle thickness and positioned to prevent extraction of more than the prescribed maximum thick ess ofbundle from the stack,

-said restraining member being spaced from the plane of said stop means by a distance greater than the effective thickness of said plunger member plus the thickness of the thickest sheet whereby no sheet may he engaged by both said plunger member and said restraining member, and

a slide arranged along one side of one of said members 7 such that itrnay lie between said plunger member and said restraining member when said plunger member advances, said members and said slide being of such relative dimensions that when said slide thus lies between said members, the distancebetween said slide and the other of said members is less than the thickness of the thinnest sheet, said slide having a normal position wherein one end thereof is substantially flushwith the stack engaging side of said one member and being movable relatively therefrom during plunger advancement when a sheet engages both the other of said members and said slide;

and means for resiliently resisting such relative movement of said slide from its normal position,

said slide having an effective thickness less than the thickness of'the thinnest sheet.

8. Apparatus for extracting a bundle of sheets from a stack of substantially rigid sheets whose thickness varies within tolerance limits, such bundle containing an indeterminate number of sheets Whose combinedthickness approximates a prescribed Value, said apparatus comprising; I i V stop means defining a plane against which the stack p of sheets may be advanced, V a plunger for advancing an indeterminate number of sheets along said stop means, said plunger having an eiiective thickness determinative of a prescribed mini mum bundle thickness,

restraining means positioned to prevent extraction from t V the stack of any sheet not engaged by said plunge said restraining means including a main restraining member spaced from the plane of said stop means by a distance greater than the effective thickness of said plunger plus the thickness of the thickest sheet where- I by no sheet may be engaged by both said plunger and said main restraining member,

said restraining means also including an auxiliary reand means for resiliently urging said auxiliary restraining member toward its normal position,

, said auxiliary restraining member having an elfective thickness less than the thickness of the thinnest sheet,

. and the distance from said auxiliary restraining member to the plane of said stop means being greater than the efiectivethickness of said plunger and less than the effective thickness of said plunger plus the thickness of the thinnest sheet.

References Cited by theExaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,081,193 5/37 Breitenstein et al. 221-206 2,546,986 4/51 Dressler 221-250 2,601,118 6/52 'Guesmer et a1 221-206 45 RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

' Louis-J; DEMBO, Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING A BUNDLE OF SHEETS FROM A STACK OF SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID SHEETS WHOSE THICKNESS VARIES WITHIN TOLERANCE LIMITS, SUCH BUNDLE CONTAINING AN INDETERMINATE NUMBER OF SHEETS WHOSE COMBINED THICKNESS APPROXIMATES A PRESELECTED VALUE, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: STOP MEANS DEFINING A PLANE AGAINST WHICH THE STACK OF SHEETS MAY BE ADVANCED, RESTRAINING MEANS SPACED FROM THE PLANE OF SAID STOP MEANS BY A DISTANCE DETERMINATIVE OF A PRESCRIBED MAXIMUM VALUE OF BUNDLE THICKNESS AND POSITIONED TO PREVENT EXTRACTION OF MORE THAN THE PRESCRIBED MAXIMUM THICKNESS OF BUNDLE FROM THE STACK, AND PLUNGER MEANS FOR ADVANCING AN INDETERMINATE NUMBER OF SHEETS ALONG SAID STOP MEANS SUCH THAT THE LEADING ENDS OF THE SHEETS ARE ADVANCED PAST SAID RESTRAINING MEANS, SAID PLUNGER MEANS INCLUDING A POSITIVELY DRIVEN MAIN PLUNGER ARRANGED TO ENGAGE AND TO ADVANCE AT LEAST ALL BUT ONE OF THE SHEETS WHICH MAY BE MOVED PAST SAID RESTRAINING MEANS, SAID MAIN PLUNGER HAVING AN EFFECTIVE THICKNESS LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM BUNDLE THICKNESS MINUS THE THICKNESS OF THE THICKNESS SHEET WHEREBY NO SHEET MAY BE ENGAGED BY BOTH SAID MAIN PLUNGER AND SAID RESTRAINING MEANS, SAID PLUNGER MEANS ALSO INCLUDING AN AUXILIARY PLUNGER ARRANGED ALONG THE SIDE OF SAID MAIN PLUNGER WHICH FACES AWAY FROM SAID STOP MEANS, AND MEANS FOR RESILIENTLY MAINTAINING SAID AUXILIARY PLUNGER ON SAID MAIN PLUNGER WITH THE SHEET-ENGAGING FACE THEREOF SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE SHEET-ENGAGING FACE OF SAID MAIN PLUNGER, SAID AUXILIARY PLUNGER HAVING AN EFFECTIVE THICKNESS LESS THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE THINNEST SHEET, AND SAID MAIN AND AUXILIARY PLUNGERS HAVING A COMBINED EFFECTIVE THICKNESS LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM BUNDLE THICKNESS AND GREATER THAN THE MAXIMUM BUNDLE THICKNESS MINUS THE THICKNESS OF THE THINNEST SHEET, WHEREBY ANY SHEET WHICH MAY BE MOVED PAST SAID RESTRAINING MEANS IS ENGAGED AND ADVANCED BY SAID PLUNGERS. 